The Nigerian tech ecosystem has continued to witness steady growth over the years, much to everyone’s delight. Leading tech companies such as Flutterwave and Paystack have continuously introduced innovative products/services that are making life easier for Nigerians. These companies also employ a considerable number of Nigeria’s tech talents, whilst contributing significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP.
The bad blood: However, in the midst of this success story brews a cold war. Well, maybe “cold war” is not exactly the right way to describe the sitaution. However, there is definitely some kind of “bad blood” between some of the major players. This became manifest some days ago after e-logistics firm, Kobo360, announced that it recently raised the sum of $30 million.
[READ: E-logistics firm, Kobo360 raises $30 million]
Following this announcement, serial entrepreneur and Co-founder of Flutterwave, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, wrote a Twitter post congratulating Kobo360 for joining what he called “the $100m dollar club”. Apparently, two of the companies associated with Aboyeji (i.e., Andela and Flutterwave) are already on this club. Thanks to Kobo360’s latest capital raise, it has now joined this exclusive tech club.
While there is nothing wrong with this development, Aboyeji went further to make a rather controversial statement by implying that any tech company that wishes to be admitted into the $100 million club “must create value” first.
https://twitter.com/iaboyeji/status/1161658146265423872
Jason Njoku’s Response: Reacting to Aboyeji’s post, the Founder of IrokoTV, Jason Njoku, acknowledged the subtle “shade” whilst noting that there’s no need for it. According to him, Aboyeji should be straight-forward in his remarks by calling people out directly so “we can have a direct honest conversation.”
No need to shade. Call out directly. Then we can have a direct honest conversation. I think the ecosystem deserves that too. You know me. I will tell my own truths and yours if you please. But I'm not about to twitter fight. Obi knows the value I shared & also to anyone who asks
— JasonNjoku (@JasonNjoku) August 16, 2019
[READ: Mark Essien has a word of caution for startups]
Many observers were quick to observe what was happening, even as they left many hilarious reactions to the situation as you can see below.
Lol I hope the sub owner sees this… pic.twitter.com/PIzUbxR6Xa
— Rotimi. (@Olowo_Rotimi) August 14, 2019
https://twitter.com/saniyusuf/status/1162326651927220225
Is this necessary? You are probably asking yourself this very question right now. The truth is that it is absolutely not necessary. Below are some of the reasons we think so:
- The ability to raise millions of dollars from foreign investors should never be the primary yardstick for determining a company’s relevance.
- The fact that every Nigerian tech company is serving very specific purposes makes them valuable.
[READ: Why Nigeria’s tech ecosystem shouldn’t be built exclusively with foreign capital]
It also should be noted that even though Jason Njoku’s IrokoTV have not raised up to $100 million from investors, the company has definitely raised some considerable amount of money and could possibly raise more as it continues to innovate.
